The Fatal Chicago Fire.

Manawatu Herald, 7 January 1904, Page 3

The Fatal Chicago Fire.

INQUEST ON THE VICTIMS,

At the inquest on the victims of the fire in the Iroquois theatre, the evidence shoved that the draught from the doors, which were opened behind ihe stage, blew down a fan screen containing a number of in-T-.'wnt, h"

The fen s<*>' -»•». ITU with a crash like an exp ios >ii, ami t.ic boat from the flood of lights on the screen ignited tire fli nsy borders of the ecenerv.

Then seventy-five thousand feet of oi'cd Manila rope, used in suspending a hundred and eighty drop scenes, caught lire.

The asbestos curtain had not been arranged to drop quickly, It hung on an endless rope, and was lowered with difiiculty. It was obstructed in its descent by a steel reflector, and not by an aerial wire. The reflector, which had been carelessly left to itself, swung out of a niche near the proscenium arch.

PRECAUTION AGAINST FUTURE FIRES. The Chicago city authorities have declared that the use of asbestos curtains for cutting off the stage from the auditorium is inadequate. The owners of theatres in Chicago have also been ordered to construct steel roller curtains, and also to construct wide exits, each with a stairway to the street. The use of combustibles and calcium lights are prohibited, and the theatre authorities are also ordered to construct skylights over the stage, fitted with automatic lids, so as to enable smoke to escape in case of fire. Gas jets are to be protected with wire nettings.

Stringent precautions are to be taken against fires in theatres in other cities,